Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Solidarity with Russian leftists

TODAY, WE, the representatives of Russian leftist organizations, turn
to our comrades all over the world with an appeal for solidarity. This
call and your response to it are very important to us. Right now, we are
facing not just another instance of dubious sentencing by the Russian
"justice" system or another case of a human life broken by the encounter
with the state's repressive apparatus.

Today, the authorities have launched against us a repressive campaign
without precedent in the recent history of Russia, a campaign whose
goal is to extinguish the left as an organized political force. The
recent arrests, threats, beatings, aggressive media attacks and moves
towards declaring leftist groups illegal all point to the new general
strategy on the part of the authorities, much more cruel and much less
predictable than that of recent years.

The massive protest movement that began in December 2011 radically
changed the atmosphere of political and social passivity established
during the Putin years. Tens of thousands of young and middle-aged
people, office workers and state employees began to appear on the
streets and to demand change. On December 10 and 24, 2011, and then on
February 4, 2012, Moscow, Petersburg and other large cities became the
sites of massive rallies, demonstrating a new level of politicization of
a significant part of society.

The "managed democracy" model crafted by the ruling elite over many
years went bankrupt in a matter of days. Political manipulations ceased
working in the face of real politics, born from below. The movement,
whose demands were initially limited to "honest elections," quickly grew
into a protest against the whole political system.

After the elections of March 4, 2012, in which Vladimir Putin, using a
combination of massive administrative pressure on voters, massive
falsifications and mendacious populist rhetoric, assured himself of
another term, many thought that the potential for protest mobilization
had been exhausted. The naïve hopes of the thousands of opposition
volunteers, taking on the role of election observers in the hope of
putting an end to voter fraud, were crushed.

The next demonstration, which few believed would succeed, was
scheduled for the center of Moscow on May 6, the day before Putin's
inauguration. And on this day, despite the skeptical predictions, more
than 60,000 people showed up. When the march approached the square where
the rally was to take place, the police organized a massive
provocation, blocking the marchers' path to the square. All those who
attempted to circumvent the police cordon were subjected to beatings and
arrests.

The unprecedented police violence produced resistance on the part of
some of the protesters, who resisted arrests and refused to leave the
square until everyone had been freed. The confrontation on May 6 lasted a
few hours. In the end, over 650 people were arrested, some of whom
spent the night in jail.

The next day, Putin's motorized procession headed for his
inauguration through an empty Moscow. Along with the protesters, the
police had cleared the city of all pedestrians.

The new protest movement had demonstrated its power and a new degree
of radicalization. The events of May 6 gave rise to the Occupy movement,
which brought thousands of young people to the center of Moscow and
held strong until the end of May. Leftist groups, until then peripheral
to the established liberal spokesman of the protest movement, were
progressively playing a larger role.

Read the rest here. Consider it a reminder that nearly a century after Red October, the call for an alternative to capitalism remains loud and clear.